To this!
And so we are about ready to move into our new facility. That should begin any day now, as from this view you can't see the equipment inside that belongs to various contractors that are finishing up their punch lists and tasks to get the inside completed. The walls are painted, the bays are done, last minute electrical/security systems are being dialed in, and eventually we will need to begin removing the "stuff" from the old station to this one. Furniture needs to arrive, which doesn't amount to much, and the exercise equipment. Oh yes, we have a training room which I will put to good use. This view is looking east, and our house is actually about a half mile further east. And there is a possibility that I may end up the first resident officer of this station! Our captain is retiring, so the Captain of station 35 will oversee us, and come December and the Officer's test, either Wayne or I will be the next Lieutenant. Yes, the changes.
And our little community here has changes galore in the works. There will be a levy request for a community rec center with pools. That's a luxury in my mind. There is also a request coming for a new harbor project. Somewhat an infrastructure for us, as we already have one that does bring in revenue, or so it claims. I know the Sherrifs office will be requesting a levy, as they put out a whole page ad detailing the facts of their underfunded nature relative to the size of the community we live in. And of course most folk can't tell when the Fire District last asked for a levy lid request.
In this state, the fire district gets their money from property taxes. Years ago some bone head decided that we needed a law that capped property tax increases at 1% a year. So that somewhat limits the budget we have. Our whammy comes from the fact that any time inflation exceeeds that 1%, which it does every year, we lose money. So compound those loses for almost two decades, and you begin to wonder just how we get by. We did get new breathing apparatus equipment this year based on a grant. New laws now require that our bunker gear can be no older than 10 years, due to a breakdown in the liners ability to protect from heat. And that stuff isn't cheap for a well financed department, which many rural volunteer departments aren't.
Ah, the changes.
This year Langley will host it's first Oktoberfest. Not that we're heavily German around here, I think the community is finding ways to not only draw us together, but also draw in tourists. I've never been to the Leavenworth Octoberfest, and given a rather Bavarian looking town and some fall colors, they might have a leg up on us. On the other hand, from here it's three hours into the mountains. Close to the same for Seattlites. So maybe if they get something good going, it just might draw in a crowd. We have the Mystery Weekend, Soup Box Derby(more of a local thing), Choochokum Art Fair, and DjangoFest as major attractions for our area. It's actually kind of fun to watch these efforts.
The big change, and controversial it is, is the Island move to establish a public utility district. A PUD. Both sides are financed from involved groups, and obviously the big money is with PSE , our current provider, who once referred to our area as "losers," in the sense that they don't necessarily make money off of us relative to the cost of deliver and maintaining that service. Which of course has begged the question why they are fighting to keep us from being our own district. Right now in fact, PSE(Puget Sound Energy) is on the auction block, and an Australian group is seriously looking at it. So the signs are up, the mailers are going out. The paper and local internet forum are filling with arguments pro and con.
Myself, I want it. I want it and the switch to alternative energy sources. Renewable sources like wind, sun, and tide. I'd say geothermal, but I know nothing about it. I want local control and free renewable sources. I figure a decade to put it all in place would be worth the investment.
Oh, these changes. Do we just continue with the status quo, or forge ahead in new directions? That seems to be the question we face. Come November, at least so far as the PUD is concerned, we'll see what our area, and maybe country, are made of.
